Method of protecting railway-trains



(No Model.)

QM $9 QQ in 5 III I II I I I I u r fiks g ixpu I I Patented Dec. 10,1889.

J IIVVEIVTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH I. OONKLIN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

METHOD OF PROTECTING RAILWAY-TRAINS SPECIFICATION forming part ofLetters Patent No. 416,713, dated December 10, 1889. Application filedDecember 20, 1888; Serial No. 294,231. (No model.)

tion of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art towhich it appertains to make and use the same.

,f lhe object of this invention is to prevent collisions onrailway-lines from carelessness or inattention to duty on the part ofthose having charge of trains by placing a reliable check on theirfaithful performance of the tasks imposed on them by the establishedrules of the railway.

When from any cause a train stops on the line and another crashes intoit, there is always great diftlculty in placing the. responsij throughsignal-boxes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and

bility for the accident where it belongs. The fiagman may assert that hewent back the regulation distance, and it is almost impossible to provethe real fact that he did not go back at.all. The train-conductor atpresent, except in daylight on astraight track, has no means of knowingwhether or not his flagman is performing his duty, and thereforefrequently the testimony of the former is of little avail. It isbelieved by many that this difficulty in tracing the cause of theaccident occasions much disregard of the most obvious precautions tosecure safety.

I propose by my invention to not only prevent such disregard ofwell-founded rules and regulations, but also to provide means ofcommunicating at once with the office of the train-dispatcher and givingthe number of the train, the location where it stopped, and notify thepresence or absence of the flagman from his post both to thetrain-dispatcher and the conductor of the train, and at the same timepreserve a daily record of the facts just as they occurred.

To these and other ends myinvention consists in the peculiar method ofsignaling hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out inthe claim.

In the drawings which form part of this specification, Figure 1 is adiagram, illustrating my invention in its simplest form as apingincidents of an accident occurring, for

example, during the night. r

In carrying my invention into effect I proceed as follows; I arrangealong the line of railway an electrical circuit, which may convenientlybe grounded at both ends after patchers office and through theinstrument therein located, to be hereinafter described. The circuit Amay be either a pole-line or an underground line, as its particulararrangepassing at one end through the train-dis- .ment in this respectforms no part of the present invention.

At suitable intervals along this circuit I lead the main line A;11,and'so on. These boxes I prefer to arrange at a convenient distanceapart-such I as a quarter or half mile-all the way along the line ofrailway.

The boxes will be furnished with locks all alike, and the purpose is tofurnish keys for them to the authorized person among thetrain-crews-such as the conductor and the rear brakeman or fiagman. Eachbox is numbered, as stated, and

- contains, first, a make-and-break mechanism to revolve and thus openand close the line in the manner required to transmitthe necessarysignal-number; second, a back-stroke bell or sounder C, or otherequivalent device capable of giving a visual or audible signal whenoperated; third, a back-contact key D, and, fourth, a switch E, adaptedto cut the signal device 0 out of the main circuit.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the circuit comes in, forinstance, at the left, passes to the make-and-break wheel B, thence tothe key D, thence to the tail of the switchlever, and from one point ofthe switch it passes through the magnet of the signaling device 0,through this directly to line at the right, and a direct circuit is madefrom the other contact of the switch also to line direct. In the figure,when. the switch-lever is thrown to the left the signaling device 0 isin the general circuit, and when the switch-lever is thrown to the rightthedevice O is cut out of circuit and there is practically no resistancein the box.

The boxes 2, 3, 4:, &c., are all exactly alike, except in the number ofmakes and breaks on the wheels B, and this is necessary in order to givea distinguishing-signal over the line for each box, in order to carryout the purpose of this invention. At the train-dispatchers office theline passes through a Morse register R, or, instead of passing directlythrough the register, the line passes through a relay whose localcircuit operates the register, which will be the preferred form on linesof any considerable length, and for the purpose of this invention thedirect and indirect application of the register are substantialequivalents of each other. After passing through the relay or register,line goes to the main battery M and thence to earth. At the distant endof the line it is grounded in the usual manner. Thus arranged there isnominally a closed circuit through the register and through each of thesignal-boxes along the line of railway, and in the latter there is noresistance except the mere resistance of mechanical contacts.

It is desirable in making use of my invention to have in thetrain-dispatchers office a map for convenientinspection,containinginformation as to the precise location of each ofthe signal-boxes with reference to the line I of railway, so that assoon as any particular box sends in its signal-number a glance at themap will instantly indicate where the box is located.

The system being thus installed, its operation under various conditionswill be as follows: In order to simplify the matter of signaling by thetrain-conductor, I propose to establish a special codefor the purpose,and this code can be printed in convenient form for the pocket and willbe carried by each of the train-conductors and each of the brakemen, andthe rules and regulations of the service can be also included in thecode-book.

As an instance of the character of the code, I will give a few of thesignals which may be very frequently necessary to transmit to thetrain-dispatcher: Train off the track repeat box-signal twice. Enginedisabled repeat box-signal three times. Collision repeat box-signalfirst twice, then once, and so on, and in this manner a great variety ofsignals may be systematically arranged, and their transmission will beaccurately understood, so that the train-dispatcher may at once know thecharacter of the cause of stoppage of the train and can immediatelyapply the remedy instead of waiting until some, perhaps very distant,telegraphoffice has signaling device into the circuit, and if thecircuit is all right the fact will be indicated by the immediateattraction of the armature of the electro-magnet of such signalingdevice. He then turns the crank or pulls the lever, so that immediatelythe boxnumber is transmitted to the train dispatchers office, theregister set in motion, and the box-number impressed on the tape of theregister. This immediately calls the attention of the train-dispatcher,and on seeing the number he can immediately refer to the map at hand andinstantly learn where the stoppage has taken place. The train-conductornext sends in his train-number by means of the key D,by operating itfirst four times and then seven times, which thus gives four dots, ablank, and seven dots on the tape at the train-dispatchers register,thereby telling the latter exactly what train has had the accidenthappen to it. In the meantime the fiagman, acting in accordance with therules, goes back to the box nearest the rear of the train, and onreaching it opens and operates the crank or lever once, thus sending inthe box-numher to the train-dispatchers office and notifying thetrain-dispatcher of the fact that the flagman has attended to his duty,and the fact is recorded, so that there can never be any doubt raised inthe face of this record, and, as this signal must always follow thetrain-conductors first signal, if it is absent from the tape it willmake it certain that the fiagman neglected his duty and did not send inhis signal, as required. This signal will be distinguishable from thetrain-conductors signal because it is sent from a different box. If theflagman sends his signal in this manner, the conductor is made aware ofthe fact before he leaves his box by the taps on the signal-bell causedby the makes and breaks in the circuit effected by the flagman, and,hearing these signals, he. at once knows that the fiagman has done hisduty and that the train is protected at the rear. He can thencommunicate the nature of the accident to the train-dispatcher by meansof the code of signals, and, as all this can be accomplished in a fewmoments, it will in some cases prove of great value and importance tolet the traindispatcher, or the superintendent, if necessary, know thata very serious accident has occurred, which may require the immediatepresence of surgeons,'or may require the immediate sending out ofa'wreckingtrain or a substitute engine, or any other requirement of theservice, such as the contingencies of accidents on a railway give riseto. Furthermore, as it is the rule on many railways now that thebaggage-master or some other permanent employ on each train shall becompetent to transmit and receive messages telegraphically if theoccasions require it, such person can be called to the box by theconductor and operate the key and send in any special message that maybe desirable and receive the reply thereto from the train-dispatcherdirect or from the superintendent of the division, if such be desirable.

With such a system, if the rules are adhered to, it is impossible tohave a collision occur from the rear, and like protection may beafforded in front of the train on a single,- track railway by sending anadditional fiag man ahead with similar instructions; and if the rulesare not adhered to by either the flagman or conductor the fact isbrought directly home to him by the registered signals on the tape whichmay be kept on file in the train-dispatchers office. This will be moreclearly observed by inspection of the history of one stoppage of atrain, as indicated by Fig. 4, which is the complete record. It will beobserved that a signal has come in from box 24, which indicates at oncethat some train has stopped at a point in the neighborhood of box 24:.The next signal is 31. This indicates that the stoppage occurred totrain No. 31, and as it is usual to designate trains bound in onedirection by even numbers and trains bound in the other direction by oddnumbers, the fact is made known as to the direction in which train No.31 was proceed ing at the time it stopped. The next signal' is found tobe box No. 23, which indicates that the brakeman attended to his duty inthe proper manner and that the train'was protected at the rear. The nextsignal found on the tape is the box No. 24 repeated three times. This atonce indicates that the engine was in some manner disabled, and if anyspecial information is sent in by means of the key D at the box 24 thefact will be recorded on the tape in regular Morse characters. The timeat which the first signal came in to the dispatchers office in thisrecord will be marked on the tape by the attendant in the office at thetime the first signal comes, so that we have thus a complete history ofthe entire occurrence. If now any question is raised as to whether ornot either the conductor or flagman performed his duty at the propertime it can all be determined by inspection of the record. As aninstance, suppose a record comes in similar in all respects to thatshown in Fig. 4, but now having on the tape the signal from box 23. Itat once proves that the flagman neglected his duty, and if an accidenthas occurred owing to such neglect the blame can be laid where itbelongs-namely, on the flagman, who did notgo back to the box nearestthe rear of the train and send in his signal.

I wish to observe that while I have described the invention as a meansof signaling train is starting,

various points of information to the traindispatchers office, therecording of the signals in the train-dispatchers oifice is forthepurpose of preserving a record; but the essential feature of myinvention, which has for its purpose the protection of the train itself,will be found in theapplication to the line of railway of a closedelectric circuitcontaining a battery and a number of signal-boxes alongthe railway accessible to authorized employs on the train, each boxcontaining not only the signal-transmitting device or make: and-breakwheel, but also a signal-receiving device-such as a bell or sounder-andwith this equipment alone the train-conductor can determine whether ornot the fiagman has gone back to the boX nearest the rear of the trainand sent in the signal therefrom, so that he may thusbecome assured ofthe safety of his train from the rear. In case the next box to the rearis too close to the I train, it will be the duty of the flagman to alsogo to the next box back and signal also from it. I thus not'alone securethe immediate safety of the train, but by recording these signals at thetrain-dispatchers office the various actions of the train -crew areplainly marked on the tape and can be readily preserved for reference atany future time.

Another function which can be fulfilled by the use of my invention willbe the preservation of a check upon the track-walkers, whose duty, inaccordance with my system, will be to open each of the signal-boxes asthey come to it, and send in the number of the box and an O. K. signal,where such may be desirable.

To avoid danger from accidental grounding of the line at intermediatepoints, I prefer to adopt the well-known alternative in systems oftelegraphy and divide the battery M, placing half of it at each end,where there is usually a train-dispatohers office, and also plac ing aregister at each of such ofiices. In this way, should a ground occur atthe middle or any intermediate point of the line A, the remainingportions of the line are not disturbed, and the signals can be sent into'the traindispatchers office in which that particular part of the linewhich is operated ends.

It is not important in sending in the signals from the conductor andflagman as to the particular order in which the signals follow eachother, and I therefore do not confine myself to any particular order, asthis may be arranged to suit the taste of the superintendent of thetelegraphic service.

After the damage has been repaired and the train is about to start againthe conductor can, by means of the key D, send a predetermined signalthat everything is now all right and the Such a signal I have-indicatedin Fig. 4 by three dots on the tape, which will correspond to threemovements of the key at the signal-box, and the attendant at thedispatchers office receiving this signal will immediately note the time,and thus the record will also contain information as to the length ofthe stop made by such train.

I claim as my invention The method of protecting railway trains andrecording the circumstance of their stopping, consisting in electricallysignaling to the train-dispatchers office the stoppage of a train from apoint adjacent to the rear of the train, and indicating such signal at apoint adjacent to the front of the train, then signaling the stoppage tothe dispatchers office from a point adjacent to the front of the train,then signal- JOSEPH I. OONKLIN. Witnesses:

T. J. MoTIGHE, EMILE HENKEL.

